The 25 individuals were taken through an eight weeks course to assist SMEs to improve on their processes and practices prior to the injection of equity and to transform SMEs into viable businesses under its Micro Private Equity (mPE) concept.

Speaking at the maiden graduation ceremony held at the UPSA, President of WVFSL, Mr David Kofi Wuaku, urged the  graduands to change the face of industries in Ghana.
“They have been prepared to be managers, good financial administrators, as well as entrepreneurs that will bring innovation and expansion of SME into the medium level and to large scale,” he said.

The acquisition of soft capital and managing SMEs to grow, he observed, were two main challenges facing the sector but expressed optimism that the eight -week intensive training had made the graduands fit to meet the huge task ahead.

He thanked UPSA for the partnership and called on the public to get on board and register for the next edition, stressing that it took prudent financial management and leadership to move businesses forward.

Joining the programme

The Executive Director of WVFSL, Mr Jon Desmond Nai, mentioned that registration for the Associate Management Consultants programme was held quarterly every year.  

Mr Nai reiterated that if at the beginning the idea was not absurd then there was no hope for it, making reference to Albert  Einstein, “we have a documented research paper and a business plan for the implementation of Micro Private Equity in Ghana, the sub-region and Africa as a whole”.

He said it was imperative for both local and external stakeholders to come on board as equity investors to facilitate the transformation of Micro and Small and Medium Enterprises to viable business entities.

“These reasons influenced the training of the associate management consultants, who are by this training equipped with practical professional expectations and ethics, can manage risk, employ due diligence and ensure high returns on investment,” he added.

The Director of Business Development Centre, UPSA, Mr Benjamin Osafo, commended WVFSL for the partnership and described as an innovation which would strengthen Ghana by creating jobs and giving value to businesses.

He gave an assurance on behalf of the UPSA that as a business school, it would continue to open its arms and welcome such partnerships to promote businesses in Ghana.

The guest speaker at the event, Mrs Elsie Appau, described the programme as timely and perfect as she believed it would empower people to understand basic principles on Private Equity Management, “a financial tool not utilised well in Ghana”.

She encouraged young entrepreneurs to enroll to grow the SME sector.